A Glimpse
by CataLinz
Summary: "When you were in the coma, you got a glimpse of another world." Booth reflects on Gordon Wyatt's words. Immediately following episode 7 of the 5th season, Dwarf in the Dirt.


So, it's been a really long time since I've posted anything, but I just finished watching the most recent episode of Bones and this just would not leave me alone until I put something down. So, this starts immediately after S05E07. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All and everything belongs to FOX and Hart Hanson. Also, all the lines in italics are taken from S05E07.

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A Glimpse

_You're in love with her. _

It keeps resonating through my mind.

_You're in love with her._

Obviously there was something to what Gordon Gordon was saying... I mean, he was right about the range, wasn't he? Having her there... I couldn't lose. Couldn't fail. Couldn't let her down.

_You're in love with her._

At this point, who cares if it's just something left over from my coma? From the world that my mind created? It feels real enough to me, and it certainly hasn't dissipated like everyone suggested it might. But Gordon Gordon was also right about patience. Bones is...vulnerable. She wouldn't want anyone else to see it, I don't even think she realizes I see it most of the time, but I know it's there. She's gone through so much, and thinks that rationality is the answer, but to one who knows her well enough it's easy to see that its just a front, a cover, a protection.

_You're in love with her._

It's the first time someone else has acknowledged my feelings since the tumor as real and valid.

_You're in love with her. _

But sitting beside her at the diner after acing my marksman test...trying to concentrate on our new case is next to impossible. There are too many things going through my brain, too many thoughts, too many feelings, too many things to absorb that I've been trying to deny for so long. But all of it... All of it revolves around her. Around Gordon Gordon's words, and _her_.

_You're in love with her._

"Booth? Are you even listening?" Her voice startles me enough to bring me fully into the present. "I don't want to have to go over all of this again because you were daydreaming. What are you thinking about anyway?" She tilts her head slightly, examining me like one of her skeletons, like she's trying to divine all the secrets of the universe through an examination of me.

I smile and start to chuckle a little. Maybe Gordon Gordon's right, maybe there is reason to have hope, to be patient.

"Booth, are you sure you're alright? What's funny? Booth? I don't understand."

I smile wider. "It's nothing, Bones, don't worry about it."

_You're in love with her._

Still with an idiotic grin on my face that I can't seem to suppress, I stand and pull out a few bills to throw on the counter, knowing she'll follow me out of the diner.

"Booth? Booth!" I can hear her jogging slowly to catch up with me, her heels clicking lightly on the tile and then on the sidewalk. "Seeley!" This slows me enough for her to catch up, grab my arm, and spin me to face her. We've been partners for years now, but it's still a rare occurrence for me to hear my first name from her lips. No matter how much I dislike my given name, it is an intimacy that I allow her. _Only_ her. "Seeley, are you sure you're alright? Won't you tell me whats going on?"

_When you were in the coma, you got a glimpse of another world. _

She looks so worried, staring into my face, her brow wrinkled, her hand still on my arm. I can't help myself...almost against my will my hand comes up and I brush my knuckle across her cheek, smiling softly. "All in good time, Bones. All in good time."

I allow myself a moment, just a brief moment, even knowing that it will merely confuse her further. After everything that's happened recently I need this one moment of connection.

_You're in love with her._

Sadly, as all moments do, it comes to an end all too soon and I break the mood my reaching into my jacket pocket and pulling out my sunglasses. Putting them on and moving away from her to the other side of the SUV I ask, "So what's this you were trying to tell me about the case?"

She stands there for a minute, her eyes still on me but otherwise not having moved from her spot on the sidewalk.

"Bones? Come on, didn't you say something about a penthouse suit or something?" I ask, trying to give her a way to move forward.

Finally shaking herself out of whatever had her frozen, she rolls her eyes at me. "You're just hoping for an excuse to go back to that apartment complex."

"But they have a pool! And room service! And a shooting range! And maids! And laser tag!"

"Are you sure you're the parent and not Parker?"

"Hey, why do you have to always bring my age into things! Just yesterday you were telling me that I was getting old!"

"Well that was to boost your morale, to make you feel better."

"And that makes it okay?"

"You wanted the truth from me, didn't you?"

We finally get into the SUV. I can't keep the smile off my face as I put the SUV into drive. "I certainly do, Bones. Always have, always will."

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_It's Temperance Brennan. You're in love with her. You're building a world around her, a family._

_We're not compatible. She sees the world one way, I see it...the other way._

_Oh, of course, it's absolutely ludicrous, the idea of you two together! But the heart chooses what it chooses, doesn't it? We don't really have any say in the matter._

_She doesn't love me. I would know if she loved me. _

_May I counsel patience on this front. Hope, and patience._

_

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_

Hope and patience. And as I pull the SUV into traffic I come to a realization – with a brief peripheral glance at my partner, well-hidden by my sunglasses – and my thoughts finally settle.

Because now I know that everything is going to be just fine. Now I'm sure that, for the time being, a glimpse is enough.

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Please review! I would really appreciate hearing anything you might have to say. ^_^


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